The Challenge of a Lifetime
by CaliopeBell
Summary: Ophelia Sarkissian, aka Madame Hydra, aka Viper, aka the Queen of Madripoor has a rather idyllic life on her tiny island these days, but Hydra has an offer she can't refuse.
1. Chapter 1

Sitting at home on the island of Madripoor, Ophelia Sarkissian was annoyed with herself. Since her father had died, leaving the leadership of the small island nation to her, she had quadrupled the wealth of its citizens, and herself, through a series of underworld businesses. Madripoor played host to gambling casinos, black market deals, several mobs from different countries, and the most brutal fighting match in the world. Because money laundering required product, the tiny country was quickly becoming a haven for artists, resorts, and restauranteurs, not just taxes. As the saying went, there were no poor in Madripoor.

Of course, beloved queen was not the only title she had. As her eyes perused the recent encoded email again, Ophelia scowled. Things were good right now. She lived free of the historic entanglements of the past. Why was she even considering this ridiculous assignment? A long, green fingernail twirled in her equally green hair.

 _Because I need a challenge._ She thought absently. _Everything is too perfect here._

Ophelia sat back in her overstuffed sofa, looking out at the ocean waves. _It's too risky to become Madame Hydra again._ Ophelia had led a very long, eventful life. Even though she looked a young woman of 26, she was pushing 95, at least in years. Being head of Hydra had landed her several powerful enemies, including a certain star-spangled captain, and the entirety of SHIELD. Any ties to the Hydra organization had been scattered to the wind decades ago. Her fascist days were long over. No, she would have to work under the radar if she accepted. A smile crossed her lips. _Viper… Viper would be perfect._

The queen typed a few quick lines in reply, her nails clicking along, then hit send. Time to pack, and plan.


	2. Chapter 2: The Big Easy

The streets of New Orleans were alive with noise and the jewel-bright colors of Mardi Gras. It was almost too much for the young man's senses. Several drunk young ladies danced past him, adorning his neck with even more beads. So many trinkets and so much beer! Pietro Maximoff was having the time of his life. He turned around slowly, watching the giggling ladies watching him, and smiled. Sometimes, it was good to slow down and enjoy life.

A sharp pop of a firework went off nearby, and his surprise made him lose his latest admirers in the crowd. The silver haired man licked his lips, tasting cherry. He had been kissed so many times, he'd never remember all the girls tomorrow. Wiping his mouth, he waded into the closest crowded bar.

The smell around him was of sawdust, sweat, and spilled brew. Several people raised their glasses to him, and he smiled, returning the gesture. Pietro did his best to keep his advance toward the bar slow and gentle. His super speed would create bruises on the other revelers, at best. He had learned not to order anything more than beer at the other bars, because it always made the overworked bartenders roll their eyes. This time, he simply said "Large beer?" and handed over cash. The drinks were huge, bigger than his head! He made a show of taking the frothy cup in one hand as he leaned his back on the bar, looking at the crowd.

Tanned bodies writhed around him, some flirting, some enjoying the music. He had lost the other team members hours ago, preferring to wander instead of being bored at the rich parties. As Pietro's eyes panned the room, he noticed a lone figure near the band, shoulders slumped, nursing a drink, with no beads or companions. Feeling that no one should be alone at this glorious festival, he raised an eyebrow with a determined look, and headed over to chat.

The dark-haired girl paid no notice until he sat down. She glanced up, giving the kind of thin smile that expected nothing.

"Hello there. Why are you so glum? It is party!" Pietro gestured to the rest of the bar.

"My friends lost me. You can go. I'm ok." Her face was lovely, like one of Wanda's dolls.

"No, no, no…" he waved his free hand, "You are not. Here. Have some beads!" Thumping the cup down on the table, he removed half of his beads, gesturing for her to offer her neck, "Come on… smile. Ahh. There. I knew you could smile!"

The girl smirked, "You win," and bowed her head to receive her new jewelry, "Thanks." There must have been twenty of them. "Some of these are from krewes! You know, you're only supposed to give beads if a girl lifts her shirt for you."

Pietro frowned in confusion, "What is boy to do? I did nothing." He must have had the most worried face on, because the girl laughed.

"I think you are hot enough not to have to do anything." She took a large pull of her drink, "You look familiar."

That made him puff his chest up a bit, "I am one of the Avengers, hero of Sokovia. Fighter of Robot Ultron." He placed his hand to his heart, and bowed.

The girl's eyes went wide, "Oh! That's why you have all the good beads! Why aren't you at the big parties?"

"I am not sure why," Pieitro grinned. He didn't want to say the big parties were filled with boring people, "But! We are here to celebrate Tony Stark being… Bacchoos?" The word felt weird when he said it.

Grinning, she rolled her eyes, "Baccus! Fits his image, huh? He is all over the news because of his clean energy project for the city. I'm glad they chose to honor all of you, though." The girl fished in her pocket for a minute, and handed him a blue coin, "I won this, but you should have it. You will probably use it more, anyway."

Pietro took the coin, looking it over. It was silver and blue, and said "2017 Mardis Gras" with a fleur de lis in the middle. The coin was heavy, and shiny. "I don't follow."

"It's a free pass to everything in New Orleans for this whole week. Free beer, free hotel, free souvenirs. Free food along some streets." The girl shrugged, "Baccus gets the key to the city, so the hero of Sokovia should have this. Coin of the realm. That's what it's called."

He thought about it, looking at her curiously. But he had been given so much stuff in this city already. It felt wrong. "No, I can't take this from you. It is too valuable." He took her hand, placing the coin back in her palm. "Keep it. Be the life of party, yes?"

The girl sighed, taking it back, "At least let me show you around?" she stood, moving to go. Pietro followed quickly, almost spilling his beer.

Grinning down at her, he nodded with a tilt to his head to make sure she could hear, "I would love that." The young man slipped her hand onto his arm, and guided his new date through the crowd. This was better than beads, he thought.

The rest of the night was filled with jazz and smiles. The girl had shown him the best music, a bar off the beaten path that also had a patient bartender to pour him proper vodka, and finally the best beignets in town. Pietro was walking her home as the sun rose in the east, his arm around her shoulders. He hadn't noticed in the dim light of their travels, but her hair was dark green. It suited her.

She stopped in front of her apartment, and smiled at him. "Thanks for saving my night."

Her head was upturned, hopeful.

His fingers ran through her dark locks, "Thanks for making mine."

Before he could over-think, Pietro leaned down and kissed the girl deeply. She responded, her hands moving over his shoulders in a sweet embrace. This kiss held the spice of cinnamon and the sweetness of sugar from their breakfast. Pulling away, Pietro smiled warmly, his arms enfolding her, holding her close.

"Come inside." It wasn't a request. The girl's voice had gone slightly husky. She opened the door, and led him in. Pietro followed, watching the sway of her hips.

The place was sparsely furnished, and lacking artwork. On the kitchen table were several files and a computer.

The girl gestured to the sofa, "sit."

Pietro sat, only remembering after that he had wanted to use the restroom. "I need to borrow your bath…" he managed, but the girl shook her head.

"Later."

So he sat. "... I don't remember your name." He managed, his words coming out slurred.

"It's Viper," she smiled, crossing her arms in front of her chest as the drug from her lips took hold of him, "but you will call me Mistress."


	3. Chapter 3: Ah, the Fjords

Dr. Bruce Banner entered the large glass and steel building and looked around with awe. A marvel of modern engineering, the entire headquarters of The Ouroborus Institute had been built into the side of a fjord overlooking Norway's Ofotfjorden. At an hour's commute to Narvik, the multi-billion research corporation was ideally suited for their participants' sometimes lengthy stays. Bruce admired the lodge-type feel of the lobby, absently wondering how many hits the giant central beams could take from the green guy before the whole place lay in shatters. The destruction his disability caused had been on his mind a lot in recent months, especially since Sokovia.

He had left afterwards, roaming the stars for a while. Not that he remembered it too well. After his return to Earth (literally), he had discovered that no one was looking for him anymore. SHIELD was defunct, Fury dead. The rest of the avengers had given up on him. He had to admit that he had mixed emotions about the lack of welcome. Bruce was relieved that Tasha had moved on, but Tony. Tony had even given his lab space away in the tower. That hurt.

Moving back to Calcutta was not as easy as it had been the first time, so he had disappeared into the Congo for a time, raging in the deep, unexplored country, but also playing Jane Goodall for a bit. It had been on a trip back to the real world, checking his email at an internet cafe in Kisangani that he had found the half-dozen emails from The Ouroborus Institute.

An end to the Hulk. Bruce wiggled his legs as he sat in their waiting room, going over the promising trial data in his head. The treatment protocol was sound. Unfortunately, the institute had only been able to use irradiated test animals instead of humans, because he was unique in the world. Even if it gave him peace for a few days, it would be better. Safer. He might actually feel normal again.

He stood up a little too quickly as a young woman wearing a white doctor's robe came forward to greet him. She laughed, offering her hand, and he wiped his hand on his pants before shaking it.

"Dr. Banner, I am so glad you are here. My name is Dr. Salinger. We spoke through email." She had a nice, helpful smile. That was good. It was a good start.

"Hi. Yes, we did. It's nice to meet you. I, uh. I have some questions." Bruce couldn't hide his eagerness. He cleaned his glasses, then realized there was nothing to read yet, and stuck them back in his pocket.

"I am happy to answer all of them. Let me show you around as we talk."

Dr. Salinger led him through a set of double doors, into a long, wood-lined hallway. Signs in Norwegian were placed next to every door.

They stopped at the third such door, "This is our development lab for the serum."

Bruce looked at the various titration vessels and chemical apparatus, tilting his head. "I don't understand. Where did you find the initial compound? How did you know that it would help me?"

Dr. Salinger smiled patiently, "I really can't discuss such matters, Dr. Banner. If this serum helps you, we are looking to develop it further for use in cases of other types of lethal radiation. I hope you understand. The fact that I gave you the configuration of the actual molecule is enough to have me fired."

Bruce seemed only slightly deflated. "Can I see the test subjects? They are still alive, you said."

Dr. Salinger nodded, leading him into another, larger room that required a passkey. "They are all here. We have had positive change in 98% of our test cases, as I said through email."

Bruce wandered through the cages, and the doctor leaned against a table, ready to answer any question. Gamma radiation was known to affect both animal and humans in different ways. He had seen video of all of these specimens before the serum. Now, he was impressed. Out of fifty rats, one hundred fifty mice, ten dogs, and five chimpanzees, only a handful had not recovered. He knelt next to the dogs, and they wagged their tails fondly, enjoying the attention.

"The tags on their cages have their names. They have all been adopted by staff." Dr. Salinger said proudly.

"They aren't worried about… you know?" Bruce tried to place each of the sweet, gentle animals in front of him with the raging monsters he had seen in the videos. Only the patterns of their coats told him they were the same.

"We have put them through a great deal of stress, and they have not reverted in the past six months. This is with regular, daily dosing, of course."

She slid her keycard again, taking him to the primate room. Here were the large cages. Each led out to an even larger communal playroom. Chimps sat in four of the five sections.

Bruce sniffed the air, frowning, "What is this smell?"

Dr. Salinger placed her hand over his nose, and was quick to drag Dr. Banner back to the other room, closing the door behind her. She grabbed an oxygen mask, handing it to him, and placed another on her face.

"I am so sorry. The primates are being given the serum through the air. I was not informed that the schedule had changed!"

Bruce took deep breaths, not feeling any different. Was that a good sign, or a bad one? He waved his free hand, "I'm fine. Why use air delivery for primates?"

Dr. Salinger was texting someone furiously, "When we started to see applications for radiation patients, the idea of painless delivery seemed a good one. This way, the patient's serum level builds over time, and then stays at the optimal amount without any further intrusion." She lowered the mask, looking at him hopefully, "The chimps… those that are still here, have all been symptom-free for five weeks!"

Bruce had to lean on the table. Five weeks without any green guy. He had had that in Calcutta, but only as long as nothing stressful happened.

"Imagine that." he muttered, "I could go on a cruise."

"Or Disneyland!" Dr. Salinger offered.

"Or have kids… at least adopted kids… and a family... " Bruce set his jaw and fixed the mask to his face, "I'm going in. I want to see them."

She nodded, holding the door open. The chimps were quietly watching him as he went to the first cage.

"This is Kate. You might remember that she filled this cage on the video."

Bruce knelt next to the female, "And bent the bars. I remember. Hi Kate." His hand rested on a crossbar, and Kate scooted closer, offering him a slice of peach. Bruce chuckled, and took it, "This is amazing." He went to the other three chimps, observing and interacting with them. "Are there any new side effects since the last email?"

"No, not for any of the animals that reverted. But Dr. Banner, those that the serum did not help… it is bad. You need to see what could happen."

Dr. Salinger led him through a third door, this one requiring retinal scan and keycard. It was a much larger room, with several layers of steel bars and bulletproof glass between the two and whatever was being contained.

"This looks familiar…"' Bruce said to himself.

He took the mask off, moving to a yellow painted line on the floor.

Dr. Salinger sighed, obviously feeling the weight of her failure as she pressed the intercom, "Please release Jean into the common room."

Bruce could hear the opening of a large metal gate somewhere beyond, and within seconds, a howling, slavering chimp hit the bars, screaming through bared teeth. Its overly long arms allowed the nails of one hand to claw at the safety glass as though it were plastic. Bruce stepped back instinctively, letting out a huff of breath.

"She does not respond to any amount of the serum, sadly. It seems her genetic structure has been altered by the gamma rays to a fatal point." Dr. Salinger was sitting on the floor, watching the chimp as it stalked back and forth, trying different ways to get at them.

"Was she dosed with gamma rays first? If her cells had a chance to mutate a number of times…"

"She was second. Kate was first. Then Jean, Bas, Victor, and Eddie." The woman began to rock a little, reliving a bad memory, "Victor… He recovered once, then it was like … his genetic structure mutated every hour. In the end… He was more amoeba than anything else. We were able to …dissolve him at a molecular level."

Dr. Banner turned to look at her in surprise, ignoring the hulked out chimp, "That's bad… but you did it a favor." He moved over to her, and sat close, "I know you probably think this chimp has it better, because it's still alive. Maybe there's still a chance to help it." He shook his head, "Dr. Salinger, This poor animal here… she's powerless, and frightened. Look at me, please. I am that animal. I would rather have a shot at normal life, or death as an amoeba, than stay like Jean forever."

The woman nodded, "I had to show you. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

Bruce smiled, helping her to stand, and pressed her hands in his, "I'm in."

And that was it. Bruce Banner had signed all papers placed in front of them - so many of them, and had been turned over to Dr. Salinger's assistant Luther for baseline testing and a physical. No needles, of course.

Bruce did get a strange vibe from Luther. The guy smiled too widely, or something. At any rate, the assistant was done with him quickly, and snapped his rubber gloves off with an exaggerated motion.

"That was easier than last time." he said, grinning again like an idiot.

Bruce nodded, half-smiling and wondering what the hell Luther did on his off hours as he was given a wink instead of a normal "goodbye". Dr. Salinger returned as Banner was changing into some stretchy pajamas.

"These are really comfortable." He smiled at her, too excited about the clinical trial to think about her gender at the moment.

"I will arrange for you to take some home with you." Dr. Salinger made a note on his chart, "Did you forget to pack anything?"

Bruce shrugged, still distracted by the pajamas, "Since you are controlling everything, including the toothpaste I use, I just brought my laptop. Got to keep my mind busy"

"Of course. We have wi-fi ready for you."

The doctor again played tour guide, leading him down a more home-like area to a small room. Inside were a bed, desk, chair, bathroom, and several other pieces of furniture to make him feel comfortable. Bruce entered, looking around.

"Looks kind of lonely." He raised his eyebrows. It was a joke, really. He knew the next six months would be spent in isolation.

Dr. Salinger pointed to a large mirror on one wall, "Luther and I will be right here. If you need anything, press this buzzer. Oh! And we have a great chef. I promise your meals will be delicacies."

Bruce was about to joke about getting fat when he spied the treadmill in the corner, "Aha. You thought of everything."

Dr. Salinger smiled, offering her hand again, "I can also talk to you through the intercom. I will let you know when the serum delivery will begin. It should be in about an hour, so get to know your room for now." She left as Bruce nodded and waved her off. He sat on the bed, testing it, and fluffed the pillow.

"I think I like Norway."

Outside, Dr. Salinger smiled to herself. She watched him through the mirror for a long moment, then prepared the serum, carefully setting it up in the delivery machine far ahead of schedule. Within minutes, Bruce Banner was sound asleep, a smile on his face. He was already having the best dreams in years.

A young, silver-haired man moved to her side, watching his friend sleeping peacefully. "This is a good thing, what you are doing. I have never seen him smile."

The woman removed her wig and glasses, and shook out her hair. "Not all of them will be happy to stay, my pet. Remember that, and don't let familiarity cloud your judgement."

Pietro played with a tendril of green, moving it away from her face so he could kiss her cheek, "Never, Mistress."


End file.
